AFR-17-002
AFRIMETS Requirements for Hosting a GA
Revision 2; 10 July 2017
Minimum Requirements to Host a General Assembly
Table of Contents
1.INTRODUCTION
2.CONVOCATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLIES
3.Proposing to Host a General Assembly
4.Major Considerations
5.Minimum facilities and requirements
1.INTRODUCTION
The General Assembly of AFRIMETS fulfils a crucial role in the Governance and Operations of AFRIMETS. The annual GA and associated meetings approves Membership of AFRIMETS, reflects on the technical work, defines technical work plans, elects the office bearers and liaise with the pan-African Quality Infrastructure (PAQI), national quality infrastructure institutions, regional metrology organisations (RMOs) and international metrology institutions.
For this reason, the annual General Assembly must be hosted in an accessible location and allow for the above structures to meet, considering the rules of Convocation as in the AFRIMETS Rules of Procedure.
2.CONVOCATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLIES
a)The place and date of the annual GA meeting shall be decided by the GA.
b)Proposal from Members to host the next annual GA will be invited at least 3 months before the preceding GA.
c)The prospective hosts must present to the GA the proposal including the venue, travel, possible accommodation and critical issues.
d)If more than one proposal is received, the proposals will be voted on by the GA.
e)If there is no acceptable proposal, the obligation will be on the Secretariat to find a suitable host or sponsorships.
f)For an extraordinary GA, the Chairperson in consultation with the EXCOM, except if there is a proposal from a Member state, shall decide on the place and date of the next meeting and notify Members at least three months in advance.
3.Proposing to Host a General Assembly
Countries/Institutions proposing to hold a GA will obtain approval from their host institution management or government representatives and prepare a presentation for the preceding GA outlining;
a)The approval obtained;
b)The location (city, etc.);
c)Information on the venue (conference centre, hotel, etc.);
d)Accommodation options (should include at least 2 cost effective options);
e)Official interactions associated with the GA (conferences, meetings with government officials, etc.); and
f)Any other information that may be of interest such as accompanying person programmes.
4.Major Considerations
a)Prospective hosts must consider that the slot available for the AFRIMETS GA in the international metrology calendar is from the second week in July to the end of the first week in August.
b)Moving outside this time slot creates overlaps with other RMO GAs, meetings of the JCRB, CC and Directors at the BIPM. CIML/BIML meetings and several annual international and regional conferences. It is therefore strongly advised to stay within the allocated time slot and any deviation would require thorough research of the availability and suitability of a proposed time slot.
c)The venue must be in a location reachable by flight (or within easy driving distance from an airport) from most sub-regions of AFRIMETS and the international community.
d)It is advisable to host the meetings where accommodation is also available, i.e. a major hotel, or a conference centre with adjacent accommodation.
e)Although sponsorships may be applied for, the institute must have the financial backing to host the GA and start from the assumption that no other funding is available.
f)The location must be accessible to most Africans, i.e. countries with very strict or expensive visa requirements are discouraged to host the GA.
g)The host must provide administrative support to the Secretariat.
5.Minimum facilities and requirements
A GA comprises of Technical Committee (TC) meetings, a EXCOM meeting, an open GA session and a closed GA session. The following is required to be able to host the different meetings:
a)General support to the Secretariat that includes:
1)General support with invitations and visa requirements
2)Printing facilities
3)Personnel to staff registration
4)Name cards and general stationary
b)TC Meetings:
1)A minimum of 5 rooms with projection facilities, available for two days.
2)At least two of the rooms must be able to accommodate 30+ people. The other rooms will be for app. 20 to 25 people each;
c)Open and closed GA:
1)A room large enough to host the closed GA (60+), available for two days
2)A facility to hold the open GA (120+), available for half a day
3)Translation facilities English to French and French to English for the two GA sessions, i.e. available for two days, and preferably for the Executive Committee meeting as well.
d)Meals:
1)The accommodation options must have a breakfast option.
2)Lunch and a beverage must be provided on all days for all participants.
3)Any other meals such as cocktails or dinners are at the discretion of the host, but if not inclusive, the accommodation must have affordable options for dinner.
e)Transport and Social events
1)Transport must be provided from the airport to the hotels,or options must be identified and made available to attendees at a reasonable cost.
2)If the venue is not in the hotel, transport must be provided from preferred hotels to the venue. and at least from major hotels to the venue.
3)It is normal practice that one evening dinner event is provided. Entertainment is optional and at the discretion of the host.
4)All events planning must remain sensitive to the diverse cultures and religions of Africa.
5)Excessive, loud music is discouraged as the focus of the event must remain an interaction opportunity and it is also advisable to limit entertainment to specific time-slots.
6)Any social events organised for participants must not interfere with the meetings and should be before or after the main meeting programme.
7)Although not necessary to fund, accompanying person programmes must be available or information must be provided as to where activities can be found.
AMENDMENT CONTROL SHEET
NOTE: Amended wording will be ratified at formal AFRIMETS committee meetings as per COP 0001 and will be contained in the relevant minutes.
COP 0001VERSION AMENDED / AMENDMENT NUMBER AND DATE / CLAUSES AMENDED
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